Baltische Landeswehr

The Baltische Landeswehr was a Baltic German paramilitary organization that was active from November 1918 to January 1920 during the Estonian War of Independence and the Latvian War of Independence. The Landeswehr was loyal to the Baltic German nobility, and it opposed a Bolshevik takeover of the Baltics. The Landeswehr was commanded by Rudiger von der Goltz, while Alfred Fletcher and Harold Alexander served as its operational leaders. The Landeswehr soldiers were automatically granted Latvian citizenship, and they were equipped with arms, horse harnesses, and uniforms by the German Empire, which armed them with the goal of repelling the communist advance into the Baltics. The Landeswehr was highly dangerous, as it fought against Estonian forces in addition to the Bolsheviks due to Estonia's occupation of northern Latvia. In mid-July 1919, the Germans were pressured to withdraw from the Baltics by the Entente powers of World War I, and British Army officer Harold Alexander took command of the Landeswehr. The Germans released from the Landeswehr joined the West Russian Volunteer Army, which was completely defeated in November 1919. In January 1920, the purged Landeswehr members assisted the armies of Latvia and Poland in liberating Latgale from the Bolsheviks, and the Landeswehr dissolved that same month.